Can Kevin Willard Sustain ‘The Villanova Way’ in Modern College Hoops?

Villanova head coach Kevin Willard compared his young team’s development to the production of premium wine after their 86-79 loss to St. John’s on Saturday, Jan. 17.

“It’s like when you open up a bottle of wine, if you open up a bottle of wine that was just bottled, it sucks,” Willard said. “But if you wait three years and you let it age, you let it mature, it’s usually really, really good. And that’s what I’m about ready to go do right now.”

Jay Wright followed a similar philosophy at Villanova in the 2010s when one-and-done freshmen would tear through the NCAA before departing for the NBA after a year of development… but that decade looks like a warm breeze compared to the hurricane of change shaking the sport right now. 

Can that time-honored metaphor hold up in the era of the transfer portal? Some 2,700 college basketball players entered the portal at the end of the 2024-25 season: assuming an average of 15 players across Division I’s 365 programs, that’s nearly half of the 5,475 roster spots available shifting in a single offseason.

For a realistic observer, it’s difficult to keep that fact from clouding any future projections. Can a team compete with seven figure NIL deals to retain the diamond-in-the-rough freshman they discovered? Can team culture remain constant in an era of constant turnover?

Since Villanova’s roster — three returning players, eight transfers and three freshmen — took shape this offseason, Kevin Willard emphasized their youth, describing his recruiting strategy as eyeing multi-year commitments. Of the 13 players currently rostered, 10 retain eligibility beyond this season, giving Willard a core to build around and sustain success with. Can Willard make ‘The Villanova Way’ work in 2026? He plans to try.

Trusting the Process

The Wildcats’ youth movement, which includes freshmen starters Acaden Lewis and Matt Hodge along with redshirt sophomore Bryce Lindsay, displayed growing pains against the Red Storm. Willard attributed much of their struggles to inexperience, describing St. John’s as physically ‘dominant’ and ‘grown men’ in comparison with the Wildcats’ youth. 

“It’s one of those things, it’s a little bit of a learning process. This group, they have a great attitude, they work hard. We’re gonna have some bumps in the road, it’s a part of conference play,” Willard said. “I love coaching these guys, I do. They’re a great group to coach, they’re a great group to be around.”

Willard said that while his team’s defense isn’t playing at the level he wants it to, those struggles provide some of the learning opportunities the Wildcats need in order to improve. 

“We’re not at the level where we’re gonna pitch a shutout. We can’t give up 50 points in the second half, we can’t give up nine offensive rebounds in the second half, we can’t come out and turn the ball over three times,” Willard said. “And that’s all part of the learning curve a little bit. That’s [on] me, and you’ve gotta sit back as a coach every once in a while and realize that there is a process to this, and sometimes you gotta play bad, go back and watch film and pick it up.”

Only time will tell whether that learning process pays off for Villanova beyond the final half of this season. In line to make the NCAA Tournament in Willard’s first year on the Main Line, however, the Wildcats are playing with house money. There’s no better time to give The Villanova Way another try.